Miracle of the White Stallions

Miracle of the White Stallions is a 1963 American adventure war film released by Walt Disney starring Robert Taylor (playing Alois Podhajsky), Lilli Palmer, and Eddie Albert. It is based on the story of Operation Cowboy which was the evacuation of the Lipizzaner horses from the Spanish Riding School in Vienna during World War II. Major parts of the movie were shot at the Hermesvilla palace in the Lainzer Tiergarten of Vienna, a former hunting area for the Habsburg nobility. The music for the soundtrack was based on the first movement of Franz Schubert's Marche Militaire no 1, D733. Plot In 1945 Austria, during World War II, Col. Alois Podhajsky sets out to protect his beloved Lipizzaner stallions - purebred white show horses with centuries of tradition - from starving refugees and the advancing Soviet Army, which might also view them as a food source. Hoping to surrender them into safekeeping, he seeks out U.S. General George S. Patton, a noted horse fancier. Cast Robert Taylor - Col. Alois Podhajsky Lilli Palmer - Vedena Podhajsky Curd Jürgens - Gen. Tellheim Eddie Albert - Rider Otto James Franciscus - Maj. Hoffman John Larch - Gen. George S. Patton Brigitte Horney - Countess Arco-Valley Philip Abbott - Col. Reed Douglas Fowley - General Walton Walker Charles Régnier - SS-Brigadeführer Streicher Fritz Wepper - Rider Hans Guenther Haenel - Groom Sascha Hans Habietinek - Innkeeper Hager Philo Hauser - Dispatcher Michael Janisch - Refugee Leader Max Haufler - Engineer Robert Dietl - German MP Captain Erik Schumann - German Capt. Danhoff Helmuth Janatsch - Intruder Michael Tellering - Stryker's Adjutant James Dobson - Southern GI